The present invention relates generally to a tamper indicating cover for a gas meter and more particularly to a tamper indicating cover for a nut securing the output end of a gas supply line pipe to the inlet port of a gas meter used in monitoring the flow of gas to a home or other building.
Since the oil embargo of 1973 the cost of energy, i.e. gas, oil and electricity, has skyrocketed. Because of the higher prices and for various other reasons there has been a marked increase over the past several years in consumers stealing or attempting to steal the energy furnished by the utilities or private suppliers. One scheme for pilfering energy, which has become more than simply a nuisance, has involved by-passing the gas meter used to monitor the flow of gas into a home or other building. As is known, the amount of gas used by a consumer is monitored by a gas meter which is located at the user site. The gas meter includes an inlet port which is connected to the gas supply line pipe and an outlet port which is connected to another pipe which is connected to one or more gas operated appliances in the home or other building. Each pipe is usually secured to its respective port on the meter by means of a nut which is slidably mounted on the pipe and screwed into the respective port. As can be appreciated, by simply unscrewing the nut fastened onto each port, then disconnecting the two pipes from their respective ports and then connecting the two pipes directly to each other, such as by another pipe, the gas meter can be easily by-passed. One way to prevent by-passing the gas meter involves mounting a locking device over the nut securing the gas supply line pipe to the inlet port of the gas meter so that the gas supply line pipe cannot be disconnected from the inlet port of the gas meter. The problem with this approach is that locking devices which have been constructed for this purpose are relatively expensive and if a locking device were to be put on every gas meter the total cost for doing this would be prohibitive.
A more practical and less expensive approach involves placing a tamper indicating cover or seal over the nut which must be broken before the nut can be accessed. If a meter reader observes that a cover has been broken or removed he then places a locking device over the nut. Tamper indicating covers for this purpose have been proposed; however, for one reason or another they have not proven to be entirely satisfactory.
Accordingly, the need exists for a tamper indicating cover which is adapted to be mounted on the nut, which when mounted on the nut effectively blocks access to the nut, which once mounted on the nut cannot be removed without being broken and which after being broken cannot be restored to its original form without considerably working and without leaving some indication that is has been broken or tampered with.